Revelation 16:19

16:19 The ¹  great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations ²  collapsed. ³  So ⁴  Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup ⁵  filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. ⁶ 

Revelation 18:2

18:2 He ⁷  shouted with a powerful voice:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!

She ⁸  has become a lair for demons,

a haunt ⁹  for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 2:40-41

2:40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces ¹¹  all of these metals, ¹²  so it will break in pieces and crush the others. ¹³  2:41 In that you were seeing feet and toes ¹⁴  partly of wet clay ¹⁵  and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 7:23

7:23 “This is what he told me: ¹⁷ 

‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth

that will differ from all the other kingdoms.

It will devour all the earth

and will trample and crush it.

Luke 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ¹⁸  in those days a decree ¹⁹  went out from Caesar ²⁰  Augustus ²¹  to register ²²  all the empire ²³  for taxes.

[16:19]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:19]  ² tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[16:19]  ³ tn Grk “fell.”

[16:19]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

[16:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).

[16:19]  ⁶ tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumo") and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style

[18:2]  ⁸ tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some mss omitting one or the other phrase. The third phrase (“a haunt for every unclean animal” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" qhriou akaqartou]), however, is more problematic since it is missing in several important mss (א C 051 Ï). The passage as a whole, including the third phrase, seems to be an allusion to Isa 13:21 and 34:11. It seems reasonable, in such a case, to assume that since there is good ms evidence to support the third phrase (A 1611 2329 al), it probably dropped out of certain mss because of its similarity to the two preceding clauses. It is the presence of all three phrases in the original that most likely gave rise to the divergent ms evidence extant today.

[2:40]  ¹¹ tc Theodotion and the Vulgate lack the phrase “and as iron breaks in pieces.”

[2:40]  ¹² tn The Aramaic text does not have this word, but it has been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:40]  ¹³ tn The words “the others” are supplied from the context.

[2:41]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX lacks “and toes.”

[2:41]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “potter’s clay.”

[2:41]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “clay of clay” (also in v. 43).

[7:23]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “thus he said.”

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[2:1]  ¹⁹ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ²¹ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

[2:1]  ²² tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

[2:1]  ²³ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).